


Doubt thou the starts are fire

by LatinMayonnaise



Series: Canon Compliant HQ!! Stories [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Rated T for language, blink and you will miss it angst, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:47:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26946928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LatinMayonnaise/pseuds/LatinMayonnaise
Summary: The stars on the ceiling were a thing he never had a second thought about before, but now in the middle of the night at his very first sleepover the stars were everything his mind could focus and think of.Or, the moments Kuroo and Kenma shared under the glow in the dark stars on Kuroo's ceiling.
Relationships: Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou
Series: Canon Compliant HQ!! Stories [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1962001
Comments: 4
Kudos: 89





	Doubt thou the starts are fire

**Author's Note:**

> **IMPORTANT**  
> THE END OF THIS FIC HAS A BLINK AND YOU WILL MISS IT SPOILER FOR THE MANGA SO IT'S LIKE ONE WORD BUT IT'S A SPOILER WITH YOU THINK HARD ENOUGH  
> (if you want to skip it just stop at 'and she was very happy for them')
> 
> this fic is kinda a serious prequel to [the one with nekoma](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26892274) i did but you don't have to read that one they are perfectly separate but they happen in the same universe just so you know
> 
> also if you want to check out the playlist i made for kuroken [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5rNoIL09S4AdzGOauKLEVh?si=XymerEilScOwHjZe5jHXGA)
> 
> enjoy my soft kuroken thoughts put into fanfic!

_Doubt thou the stars are fire_ ,

_Doubt that the sun doth move_ ,

_Doubt truth to be a liar_ ,

_But never doubt I love_.

_\- Hamlet (Act 2, Scene 2)_

Kenma sighed for the fifth time that night while Kuroo was snoring beside him. Looking up he could see the faint light of the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. The stars were arranged in a way that imitated very poorly the constellation of Draco and it's fourteen main stars.

The stars on the ceiling were a thing he never had a second thought about before, but now in the middle of the night at his very first sleepover the stars were everything his mind could focus and think of. Who needed to sleep anyway?

"Kenma?" He only noticed the snoring stopped when Kuroo called his name "You 'kay?" His voice was drowning in sleep.

Finally turning his head away from the stars, Kenma looked to his right and into Kuroo's eyes. Light brown eyes stared back at him with what looked like a great struggle to keep them open.

"I'm fine. Can't sleep."

"Oh… Want to call my dad?" Kuroo rubbed his eyes "We can try to go to your room if your window is open." With each word he looked a little bit more awake.

"It's okay, I like your glowing stars. They are calming, I don't like sleeping in total darkness."

"Me neither." Kuroo turned over to the ceiling so Kenma did the same.

He didn't respond and when the silence kept growing between them, Kenma was sure Kuroo had fallen asleep again so he closed his eyes, not sleeping but trying to.

A hand in his startled him, gasping and opening his eyes to see Kuroo staring at him again. In the darkness Kenma couldn't see that well but by the way his friend was acting he was probably embarrassed. Holding his hand with a little more force than necessary, Kenma turned completely to Kuroo.

"Now you can't sleep?" Kuroo only nodded, making Kenma sigh "Talking sometimes will help me sleep. Tell me about the constellation on the ceiling."

"You noticed it was a constellation?"

"Draco, right?"

Kuroo smiled, reminding Kenma that he liked his new friend very much and that even if he was a little too quiet sometimes he was good company.

"Do you know the myth of Ladon?" Kenma barely began to shake his head and Kuroo was talking again "It's probably the one that inspired the constellation's name…"

As Kuroo's soft voice filled the room, Kenma tried to keep focused and memorize everything his friend was saying. And when the voice went down and down until it stopped at the same time Kenma drifted off to a peaceful sleep, the only thought on his mind was:

_ I never heard him talk so much. _

* * *

There was a faint knock on his window, maybe a bird that got a little confused. Another knock and Kuroo almost opened his eyes. A third knock couldn't be coincidence so he finally got up. His room was dark with the slight glow of the stars glued on his ceiling. Kuroo didn't remember falling asleep for that long, it wasn't dark when he went to take a quick nap.

A fourth knock. Right, the window.

Looking over there was Kenma on top of the branch that connected their windows. That made Kuroo frown, his best friend usually came in from the front door, it was mostly him that came in from the window whenever he wanted to annoy the other.

Stretching, he opened the window and looked at Kenma with raised eyebrows. After their silent conversation stating that there was nothing to worry about, but if it did they could talk later, Kuroo laid in his bed again patting the spot at his side for Kenma to come and lay with him.

"Wanna play something, Kitten?"

"I don't like this nickname, Kuro." He heard Kenma move around the room and settle at the base of his bed.

"That's too bad, Kitten, it's yours now."

"Can I return my best friend?"

"Sorry we only accept devolutions with recits and in a period of one month. You're four years too late, sir." Kuroo sat down to smile at Kenma who just glared at him in turn.

Noticing the silence meant something, Kuroo got up to put a video game for them to play and distract Kenma's mind. Kenma once talked about how his mind was too loud, too fast, too much for him to deal with. Maybe that was what was happening today.

"I'm player one."

"Okay." Kenma shrugged his shoulder and took the second controller from Kuroo's hands "I already told you that you can't get me worked up about that, it makes no sense."

"You're no fun, Kenma!"

"Besides," He continued like Kuroo hadn't said anything but his voice was a lot lower now "Doesn't matter what number I am if it's paired with you."

"Oh… I guess you're right."

When he looked at his best friend again he had a small smile on his face. Kuroo knew that Kenma wasn't the most touch-y person in the world, it was most of the times the opposite but right now he couldn't care less and just jumped on him and gave him a big bear hug.

"Why?"

"Because you're my player two. And you'll be my setter next year." Kuroo gave him his biggest smile leaning on his elbows to be directly above Kenma on the bed.

It would be only years later that Kenma would tell him that the sight of that smile being framed by the glow in the dark stars on his ceiling, that made him fall in love, but at the time not even Kenma himself knew it.

* * *

"Sometimes I think you two are so codependent on each other, that I don't know how you survive not being in the same class at school." His mother commented when he was about to leave for Kuroo's house to study.

"Wasn't it yesterday that you were happy about me having Kuro as a friend?" Kenma offered her a raised eyebrow and a small smirk.

She crossed her arms looking at him with the same expression he had. Everybody said they looked very alike, his dad joked that he gave kenma nothing besides his Y chromosome. Her short dark hair didn't help, Kenma frowed a little noticing her hair was probably shorter than his was. He needed a haircut.

"Oi! Don't get an attitude with me now that you're officially a teenager, boy." His mother's teasing expression softened a little and she smiled just the slightest "Promise me you aren't going to be dependent on Tetsu-kun forever and that you can actually live without him, ok?"

Kenma could only nod. Something in her voice set him on edge, like she knew something he didn't and she was warning him about it without actually making a move to stop it. Making it his decision at the end.

Shoving their talk to the back of his mind, he walked the few steps from his front door to Kuroo's. The other boy was already there opening the door with a big smile.

They had been studying for almost an hour when Kenma noticed he wasn't getting much work done, his mother's words engraved on his mind and knocking on it to the point of a small headache.

"Kuro." They both looked up at the same time to stare at each other "Have anyone said to you that we depend too much on each other?"

"Yeah, a couple of friends of mine said and I quote 'You baby that first year setter too much'. I don't really see it, tho? What is the problem with it? It's not like we can't live without each other, it's that we choose not to!" The more Kuroo talked the more his brain started working normally again, the clockwork turning way more smoothly "Does it make you uncomfortable? Because we can totally try to be less Kuroo and Kenma e be more Kuroo" He made a small pause "and Kenma. If you want. I don't want it."

_ I don't want it.  _ Huh, and to think Kuroo once was the one of the two thay could not even look up to stare at his eyes while he talked, the one that only showed he wanted to play volleyball after Kenma asked him if he wanted to do something else.

Now Kuroo was here, telling exactly what he did and didn't want to do but still giving the choice for Kenma to decide if he wanted something else. His friend grew up so much since they met, it made a weird feeling build up on his chest. It must be because he is proud of Kuroo.

"We could do that, but it's a waste of time if neither of us want that."

Kuroo's face was a rollercoaster while Kenma talked. His eyebrows went down in disappointment when he started and went up in shock and happiness at the end.

"So let's make a promise!"

"A promise?"

"Yeah, no matter what other people say, we know the limit of us being really dependent on each other so we won't stop until we reach that limit. It's not our problem if other people don't understand our friendship."

"Okay, it's a promise." Kenma smiled.

"Great. We just made a promise under the stars, Kenma, you can never take it back." Kuroo said pointing up.

And when Kenma looked up, there was the stupid glowing stars om Kuroo's ceiling. He knew the draco constellation was missing two stars now and most of the other stars didn't glow anymore.

But he couldn't argue that the stars were definitely proof of their promise.

* * *

Kuroo was having a crisis.

It was bad. End of the world bad.

Maybe that was a little dramatic but thinking about how this could impact his friendship with Kenma… Yeah, nevermind it was the end of the fucking world.

Coming out as bisexual was nothing compared to this. This was a disaster, how could he let his heart do this? His heart was at the top of his list for top betrayals he ever suffered.

How could he fall for Kenma?

Was this a violation of their promise if Kuroo was feeling like he couldn't breathe without the other boy by his side and was doing nothing to show that he definitely crossed the limit of their not codependent deal.

_ Shit. Fuck. Dammit. Cock. Balls. Dick.  _

He landed face down on his bed, head pressed on his pillow and he screamed.

The worst part was that it wasn't new, he could see now that it wasn't new. He was probably in love with his best friend for years but he only realized it a few months ago.

And Yaku wasn't helpful at all, neither was Kai and that's about all the friends he trusted to tell that he actually liked someone.

He was still screaming when the window opened and the sound of someone jumping in from it was completely overpowered by Kuroo's muffled scream.

"What the hell?"

_ Oh no. Please no. Not him. Not now. _

"Kuro, what happened?"

Taking in a deep breath and putting a fake smile on his face, Kuroo lifted his head from the pillow and turned to see Kenma standing there by the window.

"Nothing much, Kitty, just high school things, not gonna spoil them for you." He gave a panicked laugh "Wait until next year to figure it out."

"You're acting weird."

"No, I'm not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Kenma broke eye contact and laid beside him on the bed.

"Are too."

"Kenma! Seriously I'm not." He crossed his arms and huffed loudly "We're not twelve anymore we don't fit on the bed together."

"That's your fault for getting all those muscles playing volleyball." Kenma nudged him with his leg.

That was another thing that was driving Kuroo insane. Kenma made it very hard for him to forget about the feelings he had and just rushed to the conclusion that it would never be mutual. Because the way they acted with each other gave him hope that maybe it was mutual, and he knew Kenma was gay too.

He wanted to scream.

"Maybe I'm trying to impress someone."

"That's stupid."

"Geez, Kitten, with you as my best friend who needs enemies." Kuroo rolled his eyes and elbowed the boy at his side.

"You know that's not what I mean."

"Do I?"

"You're just fishing for compliments now." It was Kenma's turn to roll his eyes "I'm pretty sure anyone would be lucky to have you just for your personality alone no matter how annoying you can be, so believe me when I say whoever you're trying to impress, they're already impressed."

Kuroo stayed silent, stunned, only staring at Kenma. The way he was talking was like he was talking from his point of view. The hope building up in his chest was suffocating. Should he do it or would it fuck everything up? Was it worth overthinking all of it now or just acting on impulse?

For some reason he went with the latter and pressed his lips to Kenma's.

Kenma made a surprised sound but didn't pull away, okay this wasn't a disaster yet. Kuroo put his hand on Kenma's cheek, just brushing his fingers there. The other held his hand before pulling away.

"What was that for?" And the smile on his face gave him all the courage he needed to continue.

"Because you're the person I'm trying to impress. I like you. Please don't stop being my friend." Kuroo knew he said that all too fast but he wasn't going to repeat himself.

"Kuro, I'm pretty sure you don't have to stop being friends to date someone."

His brain was shutting down, he couldn't take it. Kenma blushing and still holding his hand, saying something about dating? He was going to die.

Wait, date?

"You want to date me?!"

"Yeah. Don't you?"

"Of course!" He screamed "Sorry, I'm just having a hard time believing you like me too." Kuroo looked down for a second "You do like me, right?"

"Yes, Kuro, I like you too."

"Can I kiss you again?"

"Please do."

None of them knew much about kissing, Kuroo was pretty sure this was Kenma's first kiss and it was only his second. But by the time they got the hang of it, the sky was dark and the small glow of the stars on his ceiling graced them in between slow and deep kisses.

* * *

"Hi, Kenma-kun." Kuroo's dad said with a smile when he opened the door "Tetsurou isn't here yet." His eyes squinted as to say 'he is at practice and so should you'.

"Hi… I ditched practice to prepare a surprise for Kuro in his room, can I come in?" Kenma played with the strings of his jacket.

Kuroo's dad wasn't always home, that was the reason Kuroo felt way better in Kenma's room than his own, he spent most of his childhood sleeping there. Even if he was away a lot, you could see that when he was there he cared a lot. He showed that by always being there for his son's birthday, especially today on his 18th birthday.

His slightly judgemental expression vanished the moment he said he was going to surprise Kuroo.

"Are you sure he is coming home after practice?"

"Yeah, we're going out with the team tomorrow and he thinks I'm sick."

"Ah, then it's a miracle he is still at practice." He laughed and Kenma tried not to blush, offering a smile.

After that, Kenma took the stairs to Kuroo's room, looking up immediately to the work he had to do. The old glow in the dark stars had a nostalgic feeling that made Kenma smile. It was unfortunate that they didn't glow as much as that first night he slept here.

That's why he was going to replace them with the new ones he bought.

Midway through the process he got a text from Kuroo asking how he was and he answered he was okay and that he was in his room because he went there to get one of his big comfortable hoodies. Just a little excuse to make him come directly to his own house and not to Kenma's.

It was at that time that he also stopped to appreciate little Kuroo's trying to do a constellation on his ceiling. It was harder than it looked.

A few minutes before he heard the front door open up and Kuroo running to his bedroom with a fast 'hi dad' on the way, Kenma was standing in the middle of the room contemplating his work.

Kuroo entered the already dark room with frantic eyes looking for Kenma and only when he found him standing there did his brain notice that something was different.

His room was glowing not only from the new glow in the dark stars on his ceiling but from the constellations made of fairy lights. There were five of them, the original one was still there, Draco shone right in the middle of the room as it always did just a little less crooked. The new ones were Leo and Leo Minor one beside the other. Scutum right above his window and closer to the door was Scorpio. 

Kuroo was frozen right past the door, he was overwhelmed not only by the sky on his ceiling but by the way the lights made Kenma look there in the middle of his room.

He always thought his boyfriend was gorgeous but right now he looked like something so beautiful it couldn't belong to this world.

"Happy birthday, Kuro."

"Kenma, Kitty, Baby…" Kuroo was sure he was going to say something else but the words went away.

"Take your time."

"This is… Amazing, Kitten, you're amazing. I love you. I love you so much Kenma."

Kenma was ready to say it back but Kuroo had other intentions. That intention being kissing him senseless and he wasn't going to complain.

It was all so sweet and good that they didn't notice steps getting closer as they kissed under the new stars on Kuroo's ceiling until it was too late.

"So can I see the surprise too-" They jumped apart and met Kuroo's dad's wide eyed gaze staring at them.

None of the three dared to move for what felt like an eternity to Kenma. He wasn't supposed to find out and he was sure that he knew he would tell Kenma's mom and he didn't want to see her reaction.

"Dad." Kuroo finally said "We can explain."

"Tetsurou, you don't have to." He sighed and rubbed his face "It's your deal, not mine. Just… How long has this been going on?"

Exchanging a quick glance with Kenma, Kuroo looked at his father again "Two years, three months and eleven days."

"Oh wow."

"I'm sorry." The couple said at the same time.

"You don't have to be sorry, I'm not disappointed at you, I'm disappointed at myself for not showing that I was trustworthy enough for you to share that with me, Tetsurou." Kuroo exhaled like he was finally able to breathe after ten years "Kenma-kun, you should give your mother a chance and tell her. I'm sure she would be as happy as I am. And I truly am, you two make sense." He smiled "Take care of him for me, okay?"

Kuroo rolled his eyes and tried to be discreet about the tears he was drying with the back of his hand. Kenma was still too stunned from the previous seconds to respond with anything other than a nod.

"Dinner is almost ready and now that I know what's going on, the dating rules apply for when Kenma is here. The door?"

"Stays open all the time, I get it, geez."

Kuroo's dad smiled again and exited the room.

"That was something." Kenma finally got words out of his mouth.

"I have never been so scared in my life!"

Kenma was back to only nodding and Kuroo took that as reason enough to pull him for a hug, kissing the top of his head. That was all he needed for his shoulders to relax and for the world to be okay again.

After they had dinner, Kuroo walked with Kenma the twenty steps from his house to Kenma's and stayed by his side holding his hand while he told his mother about his boyfriend.

Even if there were a lot of tears, Kuroo's dad was right at the end and she was very happy for them.

* * *

As Kenma entered their bedroom and stretched, Kuroo was certain his back probably could use a massage after sitting for so long on that chair while streaming a whole game.

So that's what he did as soon as his boyfriend sat on his side of their bed.

"I'm gonna be spoiled if you keep doing that after every stream." Kenma sighed happily.

"You deserve to be spoiled, Kitten." Kuroo moved a strand of hair so he could kiss Kenma's shoulder.

Smiling, Kenma turned to stare at him. He had his hair down, a little bit messy, his eyes were shining as always but he had bags under his eyes, his smile was as big as it always was when they were alone.

"Kuro, do you ever miss the glow in the dark stars that you had on your ceiling?"

"Hmm, not really. I have all the stars I need in your eyes."

Kenma rolled his eyes as he laughed, laying on the bed a little far away from Kuroo to show how he felt about his cheesy pick up lines.

"That was a good one! C'mon, Kitty!"

"That had Bokuto energy. I hated it." Kenma groaned "I don't know how Keiji can take it."

Kuroo laughed his hyena laugh, throwing his head back "I guess that's what marriage means."

"Ew."

"Right?"

"Good thing we're not like that." Kenma threw his arm around Kuroo's neck "We can be way worse in a totally different way."

"We kept our promise, we know our limit."

"The limit doesn't exist, Kuro, I don't think we'll ever choose not to be as close as possible."

"That's… good?"

Kenma smiled and kissed him.

"That's perfect."

**Author's Note:**

> why kuroo has the draco constellation on his ceiling you ask? well i imagine kuroo was a huge mythology nerd from a very young age and he just think dragons are cool.
> 
> the other constellations are leo major and minor bc it's the only cat ones, scutum for being a shield and kuroo is a middle blocker and scorpio is kuroo's star sign
> 
> also, i was planning on writing the talk with kenma's mom too, but it got too close to home and i just couldn't so maybe one day i'll get to write it
> 
> hope y'all enjoyed this fic! let a comment and some kudos down bellow if you want i like those very much! <3


End file.
